Adventure island
In Far Cry 3 you play Jason, part of a group of American tourists who have been captured by sadistic pirates on a tropical island. You escape, and are saved by a native tribe, who set you on the path of becoming a warrior who can rescue your friends from the sadistic pirates. It’s an open world adventure on an island that is absolutely packed with things to do.
You uncover Far Cry 3’s island map by climbing 18 radio towers, each of which uncovers more objectives and allows you to get better weapons. Once activated, you zip-line back to the ground. You will meet lots of animals, many deadly, in the jungle. Hunting these, as well as collecting plants, allows you to craft new items that open up new skills.
You have to scope out and conquer Pirate outposts, putting them in the hands of the friendly natives, and giving you safe-houses. Far Cry 3 gives you tons of vehicles and hand-gliders to speed your travel around the island, as well as a fast travel option, so you can quickly jump to any of your safe-houses.
Gameplay
Far Cry 3 is a violent game with a mix of stealth and shootouts. There are lots of missions and side missions, so many that it’s almost impossible not to get sidetracked as you’re making your way around the island.
The outpost missions are excellent mixes of strategy, stealth and brute force, and are very satisfying. You have lots of tools and strategies open to you: from silenced pistols and landmines, to caged animals and Rambo-like explosive arrows. In one mission I encouraged a tiger to move near a pirate camp so it saw the guards and attacked them, leaving me with much less to deal with. Animals such as these and Komono dragons are very dangerous if you stumble upon them accidentally.
As you craft plants and animal hides and earn experience points, you will learn new skills, opening up new abilities. You have flexibility in how you develop Jason’s skills, to suit your play style.
Graphics and sound
Far Cry 3’s graphics are excellent – the island is really pretty, and gets scary after dark. Objects you can interact with always glow gently, so they are easier to see.
Sound effects are really effective. The jungle is alive with animal sounds, and the old vehicles you find are suitable rattly. The only criticism I have is that the speech of the pirate goons tends to repeat. It’s often very funny, but the repetition makes the game less immersive.
Far Cry 3 is a great adventure sandbox. The island is really full of things to do, and you have a lot of freedom. While it shares stealth with
The story gets you from the outset, and you really feel like a lost tourist to begin with, but soon begin to feel at home in the jungle, as a warrior against the pirates.
Far Cry 3 takes the ideas of the previous games and pretty much perfects them. It’s a thrilling adventure game with one of the most inviting and open worlds of any video game.
